Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Buys 294,095 Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 96.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 598,418 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 294,095 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of General Motors worth $31,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GM. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in General Motors by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,268,096 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $56,861,000 after buying an additional 13,206 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank raised its stake in shares of General Motors by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 3,876 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 238,415 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $12,700,000 after purchasing an additional 9,461 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of General Motors by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 9,968 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group increased its holdings in General Motors by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 11,967 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615 shares during the period. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GM shares. BNP Paribas upgraded General Motors to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of General Motors from $64.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Cowen started coverage on shares of General Motors in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on shares of General Motors in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.28.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GM opened at $47.51 on Friday. General Motors has a twelve month low of $38.96 and a twelve month high of $61.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $46.63 and its 200-day moving average is $50.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.36.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The auto manufacturer reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $44.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $42.64 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The business’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to reacquire up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from General Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. General Motors’s payout ratio is currently 8.65%.

About General Motors

General Motors Company designs, builds, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automobile parts; and provide software-enabled services and subscriptions worldwide. The company operates through GM North America, GM International, Cruise, and GM Financial segments. It markets its vehicles primarily under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Baojun, and Wuling brand names.